Medal Bound

Cheerio everyone!!! Up to this point the London Olympics have been breath taking. Everything from the food in the dining hall to the weather to the amazing roars you hear from the venues close by. I cannot explain how many times I have gotten head to toe goose bumps here. There is something special in the air here and I am sure every athlete has had a moment they could share about. I mean it is the Olympic Games right?

One moment that I can full-heartedly share is our first game against Hungary. I have been training my whole life for the Olympics and here I get a second chance to perform on the highest platform. We were getting ready to walk out of the warm up area; robes on, caps in our pockets, and conversational reminders between one another for the battle ahead of us. No doubt, Team USA was prepared and super excited. Okay time to head out. As we walked out in numerical order the crowd started to explode. American flags were waving everywhere and our family, friends, and other American fans started to chant U-S-A super loud. The camaraderie that I felt not only with my teammates but from the crowd made me shed some tears. I have never been like that before but it is the Olympic Games and there are intense emotions!

Our plan as a team is to get better each game that we play. We want to be playing our best water polo towards the end of the tournament. Team USA came out second in bracket play. We beat Hungary, tied Spain, and beat China. Due to Spain and us having the same results it came down to goal differential between the U.S. and Hungary game as well as the Spain/Hungary game. Spain beat Hungary by 2 and us only 1 goal so they would take first place of preliminary round. So, we faced Italy in the quarterfinal which was no easy game at all but did come off with a win. In this Olympic women’s water polo tournament, every team is incredible and it is always an intense fight!

We are now headed to the semi-finals on August 7 to play one of our biggest rivals, Australia. I am not sure about Australia but with my best guess they are just as excited to play the USA as we are to play them. This is not the first time we will meet them in the semifinal for the Olympic Games. In 2008, we went head to head in the semi-final; both teams were very emotional however the U.S. was able to come off with the win. August 7 will be an intense dog- fight and I know we are welcoming every bit of it. The other semi-final game is Spain and Hungary. This is definitely the fun part!!!